WASHINGTON DC - Cambodian filmmaker Chhay Bora, who debuted in 2010 with “Lost Loves,” has produced a new film that explores the impacts in the country of prostitution and human trafficking.

The new film is an attempt to inform Cambodians, especially those in rural areas, about the dangers of sending their daughters to work in Phnom Penh or abroad.

“Many people in the rural areas have often been deceived by a small number of people who told them their daughters would work in a restaurant, when in fact they were forced into prostitution,” Chhay Bora told VOA Khmer in a Skype interview.

“We want to send them an important message, and that message is that you have to be smart, you have to know who the recruiters really are, where they actually live, and how to contact them,” he said.

Families should look for local jobs that may be better than jobs far from home, he said.

Another important message of the film is to encourage Cambodians to respect and value the lives of others, and to not purchase young girls at the cost of their future, he said.

“We also do not want the world to think of Cambodia as a sex industry,” he said. “We want the world to think that we have a respectful culture and civilization. People should come to visit Cambodia as real tourists, not as sex tourists.”

Chhay Bora is currently in the US, attending the Palm Springs International Film Festival to screen “Lost Loves.”

On Thursday a memorial was unveiled in Phnom Penh to the thousands of men, women and children who were brought to Cambodia's notorious S-21 prison between 1975 and 1979, where they were tortured and then executed by Pol Pot's murderous regime. Although many have welcomed the memorial, one aspect of it has proven controversial. Robert Carmichael reports for VOA from Phnom Penh.

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